The Scene
by Cyberchao X
Summary: Songfic. Alternate version of the scene of the same name from Rin's route, following Emi's route. Without Hisao's influence, Rin waits until she's older to put her work on display, but she's just as nervous and wants her two best friends to be there to support her. Things do not go as planned. First-person, Emi's POV. Second chapter details morning after, Rin's POV, not songfic.
1. The Scene

The Scene  
by Cyberchao X

Disclaimer: Will be coming at the end of the fic.

CCX: A few people have noted that some of the girls would seemingly be better off without Hisao's interference, and Rin definitely seems to be one of those. In this one, without Hisao's prodding, Rin waits a bit longer before having her work displayed. I'm not exactly sure when the various characters' birthdays fall—we know that Hisao turned 18 while he was in the hospital, but not when Rin turns 18 or when Emi, a year older than the rest of the cast, turns 19. In this fic, Rin is 20 and the others are…whatever age they'd be, depending on whether making Rin 20 places this two years after the gallery opening would've happened in Rin's route or three years after it.

Also, please ignore the fact that there's one line that blatantly _does not apply here._ Sometimes, sacrifices must be made for songfics.

* * *

I checked the number on my cell phone. Rin? That's odd; she rarely calls me. Usually I'm the one to call her, just to check in on her and make sure she's doing alright. "Hello?"

"I thought I was finally ready to do it, and I still think I am, but I'm really nervous. You and Hisao will be there for me, right?"

"Calm down, Rin. Do what?"

"The gallery thing."

I paused. "Oh…yeah, of course we'll be there. There's no way we'd miss your big opening; you know that."

"Promise me. Promise me you'll be at my side the whole night."

"Of course we will. That's what friends are for, right?"

"If you say so." Rin hung up.

"…We?" Hisao asked me. "What have you volunteered me for?"

"Don't be like that. Rin finally decided to have her artwork put on display, but she's still a bit scared, and she wants her two best friends to be at her side for moral support."

"Ah, well, that's different, then. Normally I hate when you just decide things for me, but Rin's my friend too. So, when is it?"

"…She forgot to say. She can be so aggravating at times." I called her back and asked her about it, and found out when it would be. "Good, that's fine for me. Should be fine for Hisao too, but let me just check." I told him when it was, and he confirmed that it was fine. "Yeah, Hisao too. We'll be there for you, Rin."

"Thanks, Emi. You're the best."

"Yeah, I know. Take care, Rin." I hung up.

_This was never the way I planned  
Not my intention  
I got so brave, drink in hand  
Lost my discretion_

Much to my surprise, Rin wasn't shying away from her disability at all. "Wow, Rin. I'm not used to seeing you in something sleeveless."

"Yeah, come to think of it, I don't think I ever saw what the ends of Rin's arms looked like," Hisao added. "You look nice."

"Thank you. But now you see why I need the two of you."

"Hmm." I nodded. Using your feet as hands isn't exactly a great idea in social situations even wearing slacks—back in high school, Rin had gotten permission to wear the boys' uniform so that she didn't flash her panties every time she picked something up with her toes—but in a dress, that went double. I noticed that there was a chair with a paintbrush, paints, and a piece of paper on the floor near it in one corner of the gallery, off to the side—it probably was inevitable that people would ask, and she'd be able to give a demonstration that way without having to show anything _else_ off. "Hungry?"

Rin nodded. "But more than that, would like a drink."

"Water?"

Rin narrowed her eyes. "A _drink,_" she repeated, aiming one of her arm stubs in the direction of where a waiterish-looking man was carrying around glasses of wine.

I didn't really drink much, myself—I felt like I'd be a hypocrite if I had alcohol around the apartment that Hisao and I had moved into together, since as part of his "healthier living" plan I refused to let him drink even after he turned 20. I would occasionally have a drink when we went out, though. "Go ahead," he urged me. "I'll be the designated driver, since I never drink anyway."

"I don't need your blessing, Hisao. I was thinking of maybe having one later." Of course, I didn't know the first thing about wine. On the occasions that I did drink, it was usually a mixed drink, one of those fruity things that men never order in public. I told Rin that I usually had sweeter drinks and asked her if there was anything that would appeal to my tastes, and we headed off, Rin watching as I moved my hand around the tray of drinks and telling me which one to take for her and which one to grab for myself. I had to admit, I wasn't terribly comfortable being in a room full of artists either, because I really don't get art. A drink would certainly be helpful.

_It's not what  
I'm used to  
Just wanna try you on  
I'm curious for you  
Caught my attention_

Not surprisingly, the art teacher from Yamaku was here. I guess Rin had still sort of stayed in touch with him after graduation; he seemed to want to live out his own art career vicariously through her, which I always hated about him. But the owner of this gallery was an old friend of his, so I guess in the end he was a big help for her. I was still on my first glass of wine when the time came for Rin to start answering questions, but much to my surprise, she already had me giving her sips from her second glass by then. It's no wonder I worry about her—she apparently took up smoking at one point in an attempt to get her creative juices flowing again, and now that she's of legal drinking age she seems to have developed a hell of a taste for alcohol. I want her to succeed, because she's really passionate about her art and she doesn't get passionate about much, but I can't stand by idly and watch my best friend engage in such self-destructive addictions. Are they even addictions for her? I know that she does smoke because I see the ashes, the discarded butts, but she respects the healthy lifestyle that Hisao and I have devoted ourselves to enough to avoid lighting up around us, and she doesn't even seem to need to go out for a cigarette. I've emptied out her ashtray before and then come back like two weeks later and it apparently hasn't been used at all, but I've also come back the very next day to find it full again. But that's just the way Rin is. She's obviously convinced herself that she only needs to smoke when she's at a loss for ideas. Science, _logic_ would suggest that this is impossible. But that's probably the best way to describe Rin. She's impossible.

"I figured someone would ask about that," she said as someone asked the inevitable question, "so I had Miss Sae set something up in the corner for me to demonstrate." She beckoned for everyone to follow her back. I quickly put down our drinks, knowing full well that in between the wine and the high-heeled shoes—again, it really amazed me to see Rin all dressed up, even if her hair and expression still betrayed her as the girl with her head constantly in the clouds—there was a good chance that she'd need more than just moral support.

She got there without stumbling too much, then asked where I was going. "Just to retrieve our drinks. I wanted to have my hands free just in case; I wasn't sure how good you'd be in heels."

She had already slipped one off so that she could paint, but she said, "Maybe you're right," and decided to take the other off as well. Her painting was…a little less steady than usual. I had a feeling it was the alcohol starting to take effect. She apparently noticed that she was a tad off, too. "I don't usually paint with the canvas below me," she said, trying to explain it away, "but demonstrating my usual technique wouldn't be proper. Normally I'd be wearing pants." The crowd laughed a bit, and I was relieved that her attempts at humor went over properly.

She was also getting good at nonverbally cuing me when to give her her drink, unobtrusively. "You've finished your drink," I said, trying not to draw too much attention to it.

"I know. I want another."

I shook my head. "Fine."

_I kissed a girl and I liked it  
The taste of her cherry chapstick  
I kissed a girl just to try it  
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it  
It felt so wrong  
It felt so right  
Don't mean I'm in love tonight  
I kissed a girl and I liked it  
I liked it_

"Normally I'd be doing that on my own, too," she said, "but _that_ seemed like it would be improper regardless of what I wore."

"Is it just me, or has Rin actually gotten better at talking to people?" Hisao asked me.

"I don't know. She sounded like her usual self when she was asking for help. I don't know, maybe she rehearsed or something in order to make a good impression."

"Aren't best friends great?" she asked as I returned. "This is my best friend, Emi. We make a perfect pair because I have no arms and she has no legs."

I resisted the urge to facepalm. "A real friend would've cut you off by now."

"This is only my fi—third glass!" she protested.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, it's also going to be your last one. Actually, I'm going to cut you off now. This one will be for me." I had just finished my first glass anyway, so I took the glass I'd originally gotten for her. She pouted at me, but I'm pout-proof. I _give_ pouts; I can't be susceptible to them. I reminded her that she learned that trick from me. Noticing the stares, though, I urged Hisao to take over watching out for Rin; I wanted to get away from it all.

Stupid Rin. I'm not ashamed of my disability, but I don't go out of my way to call attention to it, either. If it had been out on the track, it would be obvious, but I was wearing what I called my "dress prosthetics"—fairly realistic looking, especially if I wore a long enough dress to cover up the joints and wore stockings, but with the "feet" shaped perfectly to wear with high-heeled shoes. If I'd taken my shoes off, it would've been obvious, but as it was, nobody there would've noticed if she hadn't said anything.

But she did, because she's drunk off her ass. She probably thinks I didn't notice that she started to say "fifth" before changing it to "third". So, she'd already had two glasses before the night even began. I wanted to just shrink to the back, but I knew that she'd been using a studio right above the gallery. I wanted answers as to just how badly she was fucking up her life. Knowing Rin, she probably wouldn't have bothered to lock up—although she might not even have been _able_ to do so easily if it wasn't designed for someone without arms.

_No I don't even know your name  
It doesn't matter  
You're my experimental game  
Just human nature_

God, what a mess. As expected from Rin. Plenty of ashes strewn around. Wait, I don't see any wine up here. What I do see is hard liquor. Well, at least they do appear to be shot glasses, so I guess her first two drinks were roughly the same as her next two as far as alcohol content goes, even if they were more concentrated. Hopefully she's got some good mixers up here, too…

…Of course. Rin always did love oranges. Orange juice isn't sweet enough on its own…ah, good girl. I'm not sure what this drink is called; it would've been a "screwdriver" with plain orange juice. (A/N: Wikipedia says that what Emi's drinking here is called a "hi-fi". Yeah, drink names are weird.) I quickly downed the rest of the wine and started in on my mixed drink. Now this was more like it…

…How _did_ she get down those stairs in high heels after two drinks, anyway? I probably have more experience in heels than she does, and I'd be unwilling to take these stairs in heels without clinging to the railing—something that _she can't do._ "Ah, Rin…my impossible girl…"

As I neared the end of my drink, it suddenly dawned on me: I was drinking alone. I was supposed to be here for Rin, and instead, she's down there and I'm up in her apartment downing a mixed drink. I left because she'd drawn attention to me, when it was supposed to be her night…but that was just it. This was her night. I'm an awful friend, aren't I?

I made my way down the stairs. Very slowly, because these legs were pretty much made specifically for walking in high-heeled shoes, so I didn't even have the option that most girls would to take their shoes off to handle the stairs. I really was clinging to the railing. I wasn't sure why I felt so out of it, but halfway down the stairs it suddenly dawned on me—I wasn't all that far behind Rin now. I'd never had three drinks in one night before, and on top of that, I probably took less time to finish the second and third drinks _combined_ than I had to finish the first.

Although I hadn't had _all_ of the second drink. Rin had taken a sip of her glass of wine before I decided to take it away from her. I remember this because when I first sipped from it, I took care to sip from the opposite side of the glass to avoid an indirect kiss, because that would be just weird. Had I kept track of which side was which after I'd carried it up to Rin's temporary living quarters? I couldn't remember.

_It's not what  
Good girls do  
Not how they should behave  
My head gets  
So confused  
Hard to obey_

By the time I got to the bottom of the stairs, Hisao and Rin were there. "Rin's apparently had it for the night."

"Oh no…things went that poorly?"

"Nah, they were okay. As an artist, she made a good impression, though like you noted, she's also given off the impression of being a budding alcoholic. I'm going to take her up to the atelier to sleep it off."

"Great. Now I have to trudge all the way back up those stairs."

"You could just wait in the car. You don't look so good yourself, Emi. Two drinks too much for you, too?"

"Three, but that's still less than she had. You didn't notice that she started to say it was her fifth glass and then changed her mind?"

"I thought she was just a little confused."

"Nope. I confirmed that she'd been drinking even before the night began."

"I can still hear you, you know," Rin said.

"Then tell me honestly; am I right? You did a couple of shots of vodka before you even came down here?"

"…Yes."

"I'm worried about you, Rin. I don't want to leave you alone right now. Come on, Hisao," I said, pulling him back toward the street, "we're taking Rin home with us tonight."

"…Seriously?"

"She'll sleep on our couch."

"…Okay. I guess I can't blame you for worrying."

"I can handle myself, Emi!" she protested.

"Shh. I know you can. Just let me do this for you." I gently caressed her face and neck, trying to calm her down. It seemed to work. "Hisao, do you mind if I ride in the back with Rin?"

"Not at all."

_I kissed a girl and I liked it  
The taste of her cherry chapstick  
I kissed a girl just to try it  
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it  
It felt so wrong  
It felt so right  
Don't mean I'm in love tonight  
I kissed a girl and I liked it  
I liked it_

"…You walked out on me. You promised you'd be at my side the whole night." Rin was unhappy with me. "Hisao was, but you weren't, Emi."

"I…I wanted to be. But this was your night, and they were staring at me. You…"

"…I messed up. You didn't want anyone to notice that you didn't have legs, did you?"

"Normally I don't mind, but I didn't want to be a distraction."

"I'm sorry." With its usual efficiency, though, her train of thought soon wandered. "Don't you want to take your shoes off, Emi? They can't be comfortable. Mine aren't."

"I don't have real feet, remember? Besides, these are made for wearing impractical shoes with." I removed the shoes anyway, to display the fact that the toes were both pointed and lower than the heels. "I actually can't walk very well with these legs _without_ high-heeled shoes on."

"That must be nice, being able to change your legs out to suit your needs."

"I guess it has its advantages, but your feet are able to adapt to all kinds of different situations."

Rin paused for awhile. "They're like hands. Most girls have nice soft feet, but mine are all tough. This is the nicest they've been in years, but it won't last long." She put her feet up into my lap to show me what she meant. I hadn't even noticed, but as part of making herself look as much like a presentable member of high society as possible, she'd even gotten a _pedicure_. I didn't think I'd ever see Rin with a pedicure. The fact that her hair was still messy seemed all the more bizarre now—though I guess it was cut short enough that it wasn't too bad.

"Yeah. You really looked beautiful out there tonight, Rin." Rin seemed to be blushing. I hadn't realized she was so shy about being complimented.

…Wait. Maybe that wasn't why she was blushing. I'd begun absent-mindedly stroking the feet that were in my lap—Rin's feet. No big deal; as her hands in situations where her lack of them would prove too problematic, I'd touched her in far more intimate places.

But the atmosphere was different then. Then, we'd be in a bathroom, me helping her reach those tough spots in the shower or to deal with her period, surrounded by drab bathroom tile and unflattering bathroom lights. Now it was dark, and we were in the back seat of a car, and I'd also just paid her a huge compliment. Also, between the two of us we'd had seven drinks. I realized where this was headed and gently returned her feet to the floor.

"I'm sorry, Emi." She snuggled in close to me. Damnit, Rin, what are you doing; you know I'm straight, and besides, Hisao's _right there!_ "I screwed up."

"You were fine. Even without me around, you did okay."

"But I drove you away." Again she moved in closer, giving me what passed for a hug coming from her, and—

_Us girls we are so magical  
Soft skin, red lips, so kissable  
Hard to resist, so touchable  
Too good to deny it_

Rin, you idiot. You know Hisao has a heart condition. If he looks in the rear view mirror and sees his girlfriend making out with her best friend—probably _his_ best friend from Yamaku as well, actually, assuming that I don't count on account of being his girlfriend, though not his overall best friend any more because he made new friends at university—and has a heart attack because of it, you'd better damn well hope that we either all survive or one of us dies because if he dies I will kill you myself. You stupid, stupid girl.

_Beautiful_, stupid girl…with soft lips that taste like oranges, and that odd scent of paint that always surrounds you… I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you didn't get any paint on your feet because the paint and paper were below them, but I still am because you're _always_ an adorable mess after you've been painting for awhile. My arms, around your back, move down, past your poor excuses for arms, to pick up those feet I'd just put down. Those wonderful, marvelous, almost magical feet. It always took me longest to get them clean, because they were always covered in paint, but you didn't mind at all. Come to think of it, you always enjoyed that part the most, didn't you?

…You really are impossible, you know that? Your feet cannot _possibly_ be that sensitive; you use them as both hands and feet.

"Aah…"

"Hm?" That was a little moan you just gave there, Rin. You're going to have to explain yourself, or try, anyway. I look ahead; Hisao must not have perceived your cry of pleasure.

_Ain't no big deal, it's innocent_

"That's…" Practically a whisper. You sense it too, don't you? That it's best if Hisao doesn't know what's going on back here? Just us girls? "My feet are also my hands, so they're that much more important. I can't trust them to just anyone… I almost didn't even get the pedicure." Fair enough. So it's not about sensitivity after all, it's about trust.

…It took a moment for this to sink in, and I whisper, "So then does that mean that all of those times when I helped you wash your feet, your happiness wasn't because of your feet being scrubbed, but because of who was doing the scrubbing?" A nod. "R-Rin…"

"Shh. Don't say anything, Emi." Another kiss, better than the first. Rin, have you always felt this way about me? I never realized you were a lesbian…hell, I thought you might've had a crush on Hisao as well.

Wait, of course you're not a lesbian. You're Rin Tezuka, and you see things differently. To you, loving me and loving a guy are the same, aren't they? But I…

I'm not you. I love you dearly, Rin…but I can't be _in_ love with you. But still…

…That shouldn't stop me from being with you now. You deserve it. _I_ deserve it. We deserve it.

_I kissed a girl and I liked it  
The taste of her cherry chapstick  
I kissed a girl just to try it  
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it  
It felt so wrong  
It felt so right  
Don't mean I'm in love tonight  
I kissed a girl and I liked it  
I liked it_

* * *

CCX: So…yeah. It's not easy to do a bait-and-switch on this site, but everything in the summary is true, and I even put a line from the song in there to make up for this being a songfic not named after its song. Moreover, after the third-to-last lyrical interlude, I just ended up spontaneously switching from my usual past tense to present tense and also switched all references to Rin over from third-person to second-person, and I hadn't even realized I'd been doing it until after the lyrics intruded again, at which point I had to take the effort to keep it that way instead of switching back. Not easy, because while second-person is fine for internal monologue, it just feels wrong for actions—hence "a nod" and "another kiss", actions without it being spoken who is acting. And I feel like I can justify the switch, too, because Emi's drunk and kind of confused. Her best friend just kissed her, and she feels like maybe she actually does feel something. Rin is suddenly occupying her thoughts in a way that she hadn't been before. So while we had previously been viewing the action through the filter of Emi's thoughts in general, we're now viewing it specifically through Emi's thoughts about Rin, because there are no other thoughts left at the moment. It's one of those great moments in writing when you do something and only realize after you've done it why you did it.

Katawa Shoujo ©4Leaf Studios 2012. "I Kissed a Girl" © Katy Perry 2008. More of "Love Nest" will be forthcoming once I can work out a tricky scene (which will bump it up at _least_ one rating, and quite likely more like two), and there's also the possibility of another songfic which as per my precedent on first-person songfics needing to match their narrator (set by "Things I'll Never Say") really _should_ belong to someone as feisty as Emi, but the best opportunity to fit it to Hisao's situation would seem to dictate that I send it over to someone far more subdued. Ja ne!


	2. The Morning After

The Scene—The Morning After  
by Cyberchao X

Disclaimer: I actually feel even _more_ need to put this disclaimer here, because from what I hear 4LS has been very protective of their intellectual property. Maybe it's _because_ it's freeware…

CC: Wait, _this_ fic is getting a continuation? I know you're disappointed about how low the views are compared to the other fics that got later starts, but…it's a songfic. Can you really continue a songfic with a non-songfic?

CCX: Of course I can, and of course it does. A couple of times, I started wondering if the fic would get more views if I changed the genres, but I really think the ones I chose were indeed the best. But surprises aside, I want to continue exploring this darker Rin. We see a lot of that darkness in Rin's own route, but for the most part all of my Rin fics have only highlighted her happier side—although her moodiness is at least mentioned in "Love Nest". This is a Rin who still engages in the same self-destructive behavior that we saw some of in canon—not only smoking, but going on alternate binges of smoking heavily and not smoking at all, which probably has to be brutal because of the DTs that come from denying the addiction; and now adding drinking to her list of vices/addictions. So I want to see where this goes—enough to bring my old author character out of storage so I could hold a conversation with myself.

CC: Fair enough. First person again?

CCX: Damn, I'd almost forgot. This just gets better and better.

* * *

"Gah…my head…" I rubbed my forehead with my foot. "Where am I?"

"On our couch," Hisao said. Hisao brought me back to his apartment? Emi probably told him to. Although I think Hisao likes to watch sleeping girls, so he wouldn't mind.

"And you were watching me sleep? Shouldn't you watch your girlfriend instead?"

"I-I wasn't watching. And…Emi's usually up before me."

"All the more reason to seize the opportunity!"

Hisao shrugged and headed to his room, probably to watch Emi sleep for a bit before waking her. So, what got me here… Obviously Emi was worried about me, which probably means I didn't show great discretion with my wine drinking. They didn't even want to leave me alone… "What happened last night?"

"Hmm?" Hisao was in the other room.

"Did I make a fool of myself at my gallery opening last night? Oh, please tell me that that _was_ last night and that I haven't been asleep for two days or a week or a year."

"Yes, it was last night; and no, you didn't really make a fool of yourself. If anything, I'm a little disturbed by just how interested they are."

"You don't think they should be?"

"Surely you've heard the theory that an artist's work is more valuable after the artist is dead, right? I'm worried that what they see in you is a highly talented but highly disturbed artist, capable of putting out a flurry of masterpieces and being gone by the end of the decade."

"…So they like me _more_ because I'm crazy?" I asked.

"Sounds that way."

Well, I made a good impression. Sort of. I don't think I like that they don't expect me to live very long. I think they're wrong about that. These aren't my clothes. Must be Emi's. They don't fit very well. I should take a shower. But that could be difficult, because they don't have any of my special showering things. Guess there's nothing that can be done until Emi gets up, then. "I was right. You do like watching girls sleep."

"How did—when did you—?"

"Disappointed that you weren't paying attention?" If Hisao had been turned toward the door when I opened it, he would've gotten a glimpse of my panties. That's why I normally wear pants instead. But Hisao shouldn't be looking at other girls' panties.

"That's not… I wouldn't have… I tried not to look…" Wait, what?

"Are you saying you've already seen my panties? That's very ungentlemanly of you, Hisao."

"Well, _someone_ had to help you change last night. You told me to look away then, too, but it's not that easy to completely miss it."

That's right. Hisao did help me last night, I think. Why didn't Emi take care of that? "Sh'tup. 'M tryin' t' sleep," Emi mumbled. I left the room.

Not surprisingly, Hisao followed me. "That's… probably my fault, isn't it?" I asked.

"What?"

"Emi. She's not very Emi today. My fault. I'm hung over. She seems more hung over. I feel like I'm probably to blame."

"Well, we don't keep alcohol around the house because Emi's health plan for me won't allow me to drink and it wouldn't be fair for her to be drinking at home without me. So she's not as—yeah, last night probably was the most she's ever drank. But I don't think you should blame yourself."

"'She's not as used to it as you are, Rin.' That's what you were going to say, right?" I paused. "My fault. I seem to have a lot of those."

"A lot of what?"

"Faults. I need something for this hangover. You don't have any wine. Do you have anything that can help me?"

"See, this is what I'm talking about. Curing hangovers with more alcohol is not healthy."

"Coffee? No, that's for sobering up. It's not true, though."

"Water," Hisao said, getting a glass and helping me drink it—I suppose they didn't have any straws, since my visit wasn't really planned. "You're supposed to drink lots of water to rehydrate, and that prevents hangovers. Of course, since you've already got one, you might want some aspirin. We've always got plenty of that around."

"Nah. Most of those painkillers say they shouldn't be taken if you consume more than three alcoholic drinks per day."

"Then stop consuming so much alcohol." I smiled. You're so silly, Hisao. This nightgown really is way too tight, and too short. I hope Emi's done sleeping off her drinking binge soon. Nothing really to do until then. Maybe I'll go keep her company until my head stops feeling so fuzzy.

* * *

"Okay, what is going on here? Hisao?"

"Ah, you're awake? That's good. I need you to be awake."

"Rin, why are you sleeping in our bed? Where's Hisao?"

I shrugged to the second question. "Because you were still asleep. Couldn't wait for you. Not with Hisao, anyway. Might do something I'd regret. I think I've already done enough damage to our friendship." Emi just stared at me. I wish she'd say something else. Normally I don't mind silences, but I feel like I ruined things between us, and I want Emi to tell me that I'm wrong. Or at least tell me that I'm right. Tell me something. Hopefully that I'm wrong, and we're still best friends. "Sorry for getting you drunk last night," I offered.

"…I don't think it happened quite like that. But I don't really remember much of last night. Were you in bed with me all night?"

"No, I was on the couch. Hisao helped me change into one of your nightgowns. I told him not to peek but he apparently didn't listen, or couldn't avoid it. I'm not sure why you didn't do it instead. Maybe you couldn't."

Emi put her legs on. "Could you, um, not watch me? I need to get dressed."

"Why?"

"Uh…"

"I was going to ask you to help me shower. Like we used to. I normally do it myself but that's with special brushes and seats and things. Your nightgown doesn't fit me very well."

Emi turned red. Not red like a tomato; more like a strawberry. Emi likes strawberries, I think. "Well, excuse me!"

"For what?"

"…Never mind. I'm just a bit frazzled by the fact that I woke up naked next to another girl who's wearing my nightgown."

"I'm not just 'another girl', Emi. I'm your best friend. At least I was until yesterday. I want to still be your best friend, but I don't think you'll let me. Will you let me?"

"Of- Of course!" She hugged me and kissed my forehead. She smells so nice, like happiness. "I don't know what I did that would make you think I didn't want to be your friend anymore, but whatever it was, I'm sorry and I promise I'll never do it again!"

"You didn't do anything, Emi. I did."

"Well, then, whatever it was, I forgive you."

"…I think we kissed. Like, you know, _kissed._"

"…Was it on a dare? No, wait, last night wasn't that type of party; it was…your gallery opening. I left you, and went snooping into your house—loft, and then I drank some more…and then I went back down those stairs."

"Yeah. Hisao and I met up with you just outside the stairs. Hisao told you to wait in the car while he helped me get back to my room, but… _you_ decided to take me home. I guess I was wrong about you not wanting to be my friend anymore."

"…I really don't remember much past getting down those damn stairs."

"I really don't remember much, ever. I'm good at forgetting things. But I think you didn't want me to be alone, because I'd been drinking too much again."

"Again?"

"I drink a lot. Probably bad for my health, but it makes me happy so I do it."

"Well, at least you _realize_ that you're killing yourself."

"I'm not going to be gone by the end of the decade." Emi gave me another one of those looks. "I'll prove them wrong, even if it means they won't like my work quite as much."

"I guess I should help you with that shower now."

"Please. This nightgown is too tight. Very uncomfortable." I stood up, nodding to Emi to help me remove it. I tried to do as much as I could on my own, rocking from side to side to try to get my stumps out of the armholes and kicking up a leg to try to force it off, but it wasn't really effective.

"I'll undress you _after_ we get into the bathroom." She put her hand to her face. Wouldn't it be better to cover up her private areas, if she was indeed going to stay naked? Oh, but it's not like Hisao hasn't seen them anyway. And of course, I've seen them too, because we showered together. I followed her to the bathroom. The first thing she did was to get some aspirin. "You need any?" she offered.

I shook my head. "Nah. That would mean giving up drinking."

"Well then do that."

"That's what Hisao said, too. This isn't going to be weird for you, is it?"

"Why would it be weird? We did this all the time back in school."

"But last night…"

"Would you stop talking about last night?" Emi sounded angry. "I told you I don't remember it. You said you thought we made out, but we didn't go any further than that, did we?"

"I don't think so. But you helping me wash down there would probably be considered 'going further'. I'll try to do as much as I can by myself."

"No, that's fine. We only have bar soap, and that might be hard for you. Also I'd worry that you'd slip and hurt yourself."

"Thanks. You're a really great friend, Emi. Better than I deserve."

"Don't say that!" Ah, there's an Emi face I'm familiar with. That cute face she uses when she wants something from someone. "It's stuff like that that makes me worry about you! You're a great girl, Rin, and I don't like it when you get down on yourself like that. You just need…"

"Yes?"

"Someone to make you feel special. You know, like the way Hisao and I are. You were probably like this last night, too. That would explain it. You were sad, and I felt that you needed somebody to love you, but there was nobody there so I kissed you myself."

"…Because you love me?"

"Well, yeah. Not like _that_; I'm not _in_ love with you. But…you're still a very important person to me, Rin. Probably the fourth-most important person in my life, behind Hisao and my mom and… dad…" Now she looks like she wants to cry. Again. Did I do something wrong?

"Is something wrong, Emi? Whatever I said, I'm sorry…"

"…It's not your fault, Rin. Stop apologizing to me. It's…it's my own fault. I still get sad whenever I think about my father…" Oh. Don't most people get happy when they think about their parents? Or angry, if they don't like them. But not sad. Emi's mom is nice, but I don't think I've ever met her dad. Maybe she hasn't either? That would be sad. But I don't think that's it; she does talk about him sometimes, but not much. Usually when she's talking about running. Maybe he likes to run, too. That's probably it; a girl without legs doesn't take up running for no reason. Well, maybe Emi would, because she likes to do things she can't do just because she can. We're a lot alike like that.

"Is that it?"

"Is that what?" she asked.

"Running. Why you started. It does seem like an odd choice of sports for someone without legs."

"…You do realize that I wasn't born without legs the way you were born without arms, right?"

"…Really?"

"…Yeah. I had legs for the first ten years of my life. Then there was a car accident…they had to remove my legs just to get me out of the car. That was… That was also when my father died."

"Oh. That's why thinking about your father makes you sad. Because he's dead and you miss him."

Emi nodded. "I haven't told many people about that. There aren't that many pictures of my father in my house, because it was too painful. Or maybe there are now, because I'm not living there anymore. I told Hisao. I didn't want to, but he was too persistent; wanted to help me deal with the pain. And I guess that's what made it easier to tell you, but…I still don't like to think about it." She looked so sad. I wanted to hug her, but I couldn't because I have no arms.

"Well, then, I won't tell anyone else."

"…Thanks."

"I kissed you, though."

"Huh?"

"Last night. You said you kissed me because I needed someone to love me, but you didn't. I kissed you. I think. Maybe not. The past is easier to know than the future, but still harder than the present."

"You just _had_ to say one of those endearing Rinicisms while I was washing your breasts, didn't you?"

"Rinicisms?"

Emi was trying not to laugh. "You're so… interesting."

"You mean I'm weird. Or possibly crazy. I don't think I like being crazy, but so I am. I might keep at it a bit longer, if it will help me sell paintings, but if I keep at it for too long the future will refuse to change. I'm not going to be gone by the end of the decade. I decided that today. I can't know the future, though, so maybe I will. But I don't want to be. Can you help me live the way you helped Hisao live? You can leave out the part with the sex, though, if it would make you uncomfortable. Or don't, if you don't want to, because I like you and I wouldn't mind. I think that might be why I thought you didn't want to be my friend anymore, though. Because I kissed you and got too affectionate. Can I blame it on the alcohol? That would be nice if I could do that but it would probably also be wrong because I like you and I don't think like most people think and while I definitely see the appeal of a penis I don't think love should be dictated by anatomy and I'm pretty sure I love you because you're nice to me even when you're not and because you know how to handle my feet just like you are right now and my feet are very special to me because they're also my hands because I don't have any hands or arms which is why I can't hug you the way I want to right now because you're being so nice to me and showering with me even though you don't love me the same way that I love you and also because you were sad and I felt like it was my fault even though you said it wasn't and… you're… I don't think this is normal for just helping me shower, Emi." My face started to turn red, and not because of how hot the water was. (CCX: Had to make a special effort to turn off the commas for that last sentence, to make it more authentic.)

"You were starting to babble. And you never do that in the shower?"

"It's not the same, though. It's you doing it, not me."

"…Sorry. Probably was a bad idea, especially with you confessing to me somewhere in that monologue. You might be right about it being weird that love is dictated by anatomy, but I think it's just natural because of the reproductive instinct or something. Hisao would probably know more, since he's the one training to become a science teacher, even though his specialty is physics, not biology."

"It's too bad he isn't working in genetics. It would be nice if he could figure out how to regrow our limbs."

Emi started laughing. "You're a strange girl, Rin." Then she kissed me. Not long and deep like fully making out, but right on the lips and for longer than just a quick peck. "And maybe I am, too. We're strange together."

"A straight girl initiating a kiss with a bisexual female friend that just confessed to her? Yeah, you're definitely a strange girl too."

Emi continued to giggle, a very cute sound. Then she reached up and turned the water off. "Ah, the towels are all the way over there, and I don't want to have to crawl across the bathroom floor. Can you give me a hand with that?"

"No. I don't have one, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. You're right; wouldn't want you slipping."

She used her hands to help propel her over to them and grabbed them, tossing one to me. "I can't really wrap myself up in this. Well, I can wrap it around my upper body, but not my lower body."

"Okay, okay." She quickly toweled off and put her legs on, then helped me to dry off.

"So what do I wear now? I don't think any of your bras will fit me."

"No, probably not. I guess you'll have to go without. You might be able to change back into what you were wearing yesterday, though, minus the underwear. I suppose…I'll have to lend you a pair of panties."

"Or I could go without there, too. Just until I get home. Thanks for taking care of me."

"…You said you wanted me to help you live a better life, the way I helped Hisao when he first arrived at Yamaku? I…I should probably stay with you for a bit, then. For today, anyway. Although, I'd be hanging Hisao up, since he'd have to drive… I don't have a license; you can probably figure out why, right?"

"Nope."

"Oh." And that was all on that subject, so I never did find out the reason. "Well, anyway, we'll make up a plan."

"Thank you."

"Anything for you, Rin. Well…I'm not going to turn lesbian or even bisexual for you, but short of that, just about anything. You're my friend, Rin, and that's not going to change."

"That's good. I'm happy. I think that's the first step."

"Towards what?"

"Towards fixing my problems. Drinking makes me happy, but I'm happy right now and I haven't been drinking. So that's the first step."

"…Glad to hear it."

* * *

CCX: Well, that was…about as good as we could've hoped for this to turn out. Although I don't know why Emi knowingly teased Rin like that.

CC: I do. It's because you just can't resist a little yuri action.

CCX: …You're probably right. Or _I'm_ probably right, since even when I have both author characters present for dialogue, I'm still only one person. This is Cyberchao X—and the original Cyberchao—signing off.


End file.
